Summer jobs - part deux

Ken's post reminded me of one of my summer jobs - warehouse and loading dock hand at a company in Elk Grove that manufactured aluminum siding, soffit and shutters. They hired lots of college kids...cheap labor ($2.00/hr). Most, like myself, worked the loading dock and filled orders - loading 30 lb (or more) boxes onto a skid and then loading them into the hold of semi trailers that had been sitting in the hot sun in order to get the inside up to a toasty 110F. However, one kid, Billy, who went to Tulane and whose parents knew one of the owners, was assigned a cushy job making shutters. He got to sit down and never got hot and sweaty....he was a little nuts and bragged about his status at every opportunity. Two memorable things happened to Billy that summer.

Billy always had the same thing for lunch - hot dog and a Mountain Dew -and as he was gulping his drink one day he gagged and reached into his mouth and pulled out a used condom! In those days the drinks were in glass bottles that were reused after sterilizing, so the condom must have passed by the inspection. While Billy was throwing up, we were rolling with laughter.

The other Billy event occurred later that summer. During a break, we were gathered around his work station chatting with him when he pressed the foot pedal on his machine and it made a little tink-tink sound as it bent the aluminum. He said there was no way this was a one ton press making such a wimpy sound, and before we could even react, he put his index finger tip in the press and pressed the pedal. Tink-tink! ...and Viola! a perfectly flattened fingertip! At first he was so surprised he didn't say a word...just stared at it. Then the pain came. He was taken to the hospital and he never came back. Glad I was on the loading dock.......

Summer Jobs

This blog title did not come as a deja vu concept, rather a current situation has dredged up ong forgotten and buried memories.

Growing up Jensen meant that somehow, some way, you spent time in economic activity, i.e. summer jobs. Well, we all had them. Some were good, some, not so good. RJ lucked out with the lifeguard jobs. DJ did a myriad of warehouse and office type work. Lou was involve in retail- but I could be very mistaken here.

Me? Well, as indicated before, I worked ramp at O'Hare Airport, but also dabbled in painting addresses on curbs, camp counselor for the YMCA, but the most poignant job- an likely not equalled- was the summer I worked for Louie Frappier Construction. "Construction" , I found out too late, is a loosely termed word meaning : sewer and septic service. Yep, you got it. Like the kids in Ollie Hopnoodle's Haven of Bliss movie, this was the job to propel me into the mega body I wanted- abs, .. well, you get the picture- manly stuff for the summer. Instead, being rather slight of build, I was the perfect hire to go down into septic tanks. Also, as the "grunt", I was the guy they left at a job site for a day to dig out and replace old septic tile fields. Mom would make me a bag lunch that I could only eat by taking the external side of the bag and hopefully chew through any wrappings to the food. All day, I was alone with my thoughts while plowing through my work. Everytime I ran into a broken pipe or a tough dig, I thought "Oh, crap" . Little did I know, my thoughts COULD became reality!

Character builder job? Nope, don't think so, except that I did spend a heck of a lot more time studying the next year at ASU for a "desk job".

To Grandmother's House We Go....

The house that Nana and Bubbub built for the family in Junction is a special place, a unique place.  I have always referred to it as where I would rather be more then anywhere other then the house I grew up in.  Driving up Tiara Drive, making the familiar turns, and seeing the monument for the first time evokes a feeling much stronger then what the idea of coming home is.  The ride is so much more exiting and anxiety ridden then the night before Christmas for a five year old.  It's a place of safety, of familiarity, and of love.  There's no place in this world that's more welcoming or serves as a center of being.  I know that no matter what growing pains or troubles I have, there is nothing that ginger snaps and biscotti with Nana over coffee can't fix.  The place is filled with history from Bubbub putting in a swimming pool before the house to Nana's 'rasberry' front door.  If chocolate ice cream is somewhere in the house, the place becomes that much better! 
EMILY

Jensen Firsts

Dad always taught us to be supportive of each other. That's why we were never competitive between ourselves, rather, supportive and coached each other to the next level. BUT, to set the record straight, I have some stats to present:

1. First out of country trip: KJ
2. First to Europe : KJ
3. First to ski with their own skis: KJ
4. First to dance with lady with boa: KJ- but this may be disputed
5. First to walk through a sewer after a great night at "Dirty Nellies": KJ
6. First to go to school out of state (Not a requirement of legal proceedings): KJ
7. First to marry an NFL cheerleader- let me redeem that to office personnel: KJ
8. This list could go on, but you get the gist.... there is always a trendsetter to each family................................